Leading the Conversation About Ethical Leadership

April 17, 2013 4 Comments

Leading the Conversation

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Dialogue is a powerful tool for developing ethical organizations. Workplace issues are complex and opinions vary about what ethical leadership means. This combination creates a kind of “murky uncertainty” that keeps leaders from giving us their best, most ethical performance.

To move beyond this “murky uncertainty,” we need to take the time to talk about what ethical behavior means. Use the twelve questions in the discussion guide below to start building a shared understanding of your organization’s definition of ethical leadership behavior.

LEADING THE CONVERSATION IN OUR ORGANIZATIONS

Here are some questions that may help you define ethical issues and appropriate leader behaviors in the context of your organizational values:

  • What are the specific ethical behaviors that are required of all organizational leaders?
  • What are the consequences if they don’t behave ethically?
  • What are the situations that people encounter that could lead them into a grey area?
  • How should those grey areas be handled?
  • What does it look like when leaders perform according to the organization’s stated values?
  • What does it look like when they don’t?
  • How should people make decisions when they encounter difficult situations?
  • Where might our leaders fall into grey areas while implementing our goals and values?
  • What are areas where we will not tolerate compromise?
  • What are areas of flexibility?
  • Where do we need to clarify our mission and values, to make it clear that we are an ethical organization, and ethics is not negotiable?
  • How can we more effectively recruit, recognize, and retain ethical leaders?

Linda Fisher Thornton, “Leadership Ethics Training: Why is it So Hard to Get it Right?”  reprinted in Training and Development: The Best of Leadership Development, American Society for Training and Development. (March, 2010)

Without a clear picture of what ethical behavior means in our organizations, we’re unlikely to achieve it.  While the conversation may take some time, it will take less time than dealing with the problems that happen when leaders work in “murky uncertainty.”

Let’s get the conversation started.

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Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO of Leading in Context LLC, a leadership development consulting firm. Linda was named one of the 2013 Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America.

How to Use the Leading in Context® Website

© 2013 Leading in Context LLC. All rights reserved.

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Building an Ethical Leadership Culture (Webcast)

April 3, 2013 Leave a comment

By Linda Fisher Thornton

How Does Ethical Leadership Impact “Brand?”

Our “brand” is determined in part by our ethical leadership choices. These connected trends increase what is expected of us, and make it important for us to manage ethical leadership carefully:

  • In a socially connected world, our leadership is more visible
  • Citizen journalism means that everyone has a voice (and may speak out about their experience with our brand)
  • Employees are seeking out ethical organizations and agencies where they can do their best work
  • Organizations and agencies are judged based on the ethics of the entire supply chain
  • There is a higher expectation for ethical behavior and more pressure on leaders to lead responsibly

How Can We Develop Ethical Leaders Who Will Build an Ethical Brand? 

I was recently invited to co-present an ASTD Public Manager Webcast “Developing Ethical Leaders and an Ethical Government Brand” with John Umana.  While the Webcast which aired on March 19, 2013 was customized for government HR and Training leaders, the content is applicable across industries. ASTD has now posted the recorded webcast and made it available to the public.

The Webcast includes:

2013Webcast

  • Three very different perspectives on ethical leadership
  • Specific strategies for developing ethical leaders and an ethical brand
  • Managing ethical leadership as a performance system rather than a program
  • Understanding many connected aspects of building an ethical culture

Viewing the Webcast

This Webcast will help C-Suite leaders and HR/Training professionals discover the answers to these questions:

  1. What exactly is ethical leadership?
  2. How does an organization’s ethical leadership impact its brand?
  3. How is moral development related to ethical leadership?
  4. How should ethical leadership training be connected to the performance management system?
  5. What can we do to build an ethical culture?

To learn more about developing ethical leaders, see the complete ASTD Webcast Developing Ethical Leader and an Ethical Government Brand at http://www.webvent.tv/webinar/572.

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Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO of Leading in Context LLC, a leadership development consulting firm helping business leaders lead responsibly in a complex world.  Linda was recently named one of the 2013 Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America.

How to Use the Leading in Context® Website

© 2013 Leading in Context LLC. All rights reserved.

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10 Thinking Traps (That Ethical Leaders Avoid)

November 28, 2012 23 Comments

Avoid These 10 Thinking Traps

What are some of the thinking traps that we fall into as leaders? I’m not referring to “correlation versus causation” and other logical reasoning problems. There are some common ways of thinking about business leadership that cripple our effectiveness and undermine our ethics. These misconceptions should have important names that reflect the wide swath of negative impact that they cause in organizations.

Here are 10 types of flawed leadership thinking that I have seen, with my own tongue-in-cheek descriptive names for them…

The message? Ethical leaders avoid these 10 types of flawed thinking.

Which one of these is your favorite? My favorite is #10.

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Linda Fisher Thornton is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She is also CEO/Owner of Leading in Context LLC, a leadership development consulting firm helping business leaders lead responsibly in a complex world.  

Current Leading in Context® Publications:

Testimonials - Learn about the Leading in Context difference from satisfied customers, readers and fans!

How to Use the Leading in Context® Website

♦

© 2012, Leading in Context LLC. All rights reserved.

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Twitter Helps Leaders “Think Global”

October 24, 2012 Leave a comment

by Linda Fisher Thornton

At one point in the process of learning new social media channels, I actually said that I would never go on Twitter (In case you missed the post with that story, it was ”Leaders and Social Media: 5 Reasons to Engage”).  I’ve learned quite a few things since the day I started on Twitter – April Fool’s Day 2010 – and I want to share what I have discovered about the learning impact of Twitter.

Twitter helps us learn to “think global” in a connected global society. It can transform us, the way we think, and the way we do business. It keeps us current, connects us with a global network of information and provides real-time data. In this post, I’ve sprinkled in some statistics along with my own observations about the learning benefits of Twitter.

Twitter Keeps us Current

  • Twitter helps us realize that social media is a vibrant and essential element of business communication, and it helps us get into the conversation.
  • Twitter connects us to people who are passionate about the same things we are passionate about, and to people who think differently from the way we think, and we can learn from each other.
  • Twitter is a powerful tool for learning about new and emerging issues and research. Many people post drafts of their work to get feedback from followers, and reach out to each other to share information.
  • Twitter helps us “think global” and learn about other countries. In the course of a week, we might connect with people on Twitter from dozens of countries, and we may need to use Google Translate to find out what they’re saying to us. What a way to build a global mindset!

 Twitter Enables Today’s Social Business

  • Twitter helps us connect with our readers, customers, colleagues, and partners. Today’s customer wants to engage with businesses on social media, and being there helps our business connect, survive and thrive.
  • Twitter helps us find out what people need that we may be able to provide.
  • Twitter helps us build credibility. When we connect, we have the opportunity to articulate our mission, and to inform others about how we can solve their problems with our services.
  • Twitter keeps us from becoming insulated. Engaging in dialogue on Twitter keeps us connected and aware.

Twitter Gives Us Real-Time Data 

With around 2,200 new tweets per second (whitefireseo.com), aggregating words mentioned in tweets provide unusually interesting information that can be updated continually. For example, take a look at the article Track Disease Trends on Twitter With Mappy Health by Mary C. Long.

Statistics to Tweet About

81% of respondents believe that CEOs who engage in social media are better equipped than their peers to lead companies in a web 2.0 world.

82% of respondents were more likely or much more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team engage with social media.

78% of respondents would prefer to work for a company whose leadership is active on social media.

Brandfog.com, 2012 CEO, Social Media and Leadership Survey

Internally, CEOs who are engaged on social media are able to break down counterproductive silos and facilitate greater communication and collaboration with the company.

Douglas Burdett, How Social Media Engagement Can Help B2B CEOs, business2community.com

Stages of Learning Twitter

These articles explain the stages of learning Twitter:

As we connect socially on Twitter, we naturally begin to expand our network globally. We begin to realize that the world is one community, and we begin to “think global.”

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About the Author Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context, a consulting firm that also publishes leadership development modules, graphics, case studies, discussion guides and videos. Her mission is to clarify what it means to lead ethically in a complex world. Visit LeadinginContext.com/About for more information about Linda, her background and her mission. Linda is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies.

A Guide to Finding What You Need: How to Use the Leading in Context® Website

Current Leading in Context® Publications:

“Ethical Implications of How Leaders Perceive ‘Different’”  Training Module
“Ethical Interpersonal Behavior”  Graphic
“The Evolving Leadership Context: Respectful Workplaces”  Video
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Testimonials - Learn about the Leading in Context difference from satisfied customers, readers and fans!
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10 Ways to Avoid the “Rightness” Trap

September 12, 2012 2 Comments

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Author’s Note:  This post was written based on the collective responses to last week’s post.

10 Ways to Avoid the “Rightness” Trap

There were quite a few responses to last week’s post. The question Is Needing to Be “Right” Unethical? seemed to strike a chord with readers. These are just 10 of the themes raised by readers in their comment.  Collectively, these themes represent 10 ways to avoid falling into the “rightness” trap.

  1. An abundance philosophy - it helps us listen to others without needing to argue our points forcefully. It makes us more likely to seek a win-win solution. A scarcity mentality tends to cause us to see a disagreement as a win-lose situation, where we have to win.
  2. A  learner approach  – it helps us see that other people have good points too. A judger approach is more likely to cause us to see what is wrong with what the other person is saying.
  3. Awareness of our ego – it helps us realize that even though we get some satisfaction from being “right,” that does not mean that we should indulge our need to be right.
  4. Awareness of our mindset - thinking about how we developed our mindset, and the limitations and flaws in that mindset can help us step back when we think we need to be right.
  5. Our curiosity - using it helps us be open to listening to what people are saying from all perspectives.
  6. Our humility - it helps us be willing to admit when we are wrong (or when someone else’s idea is better).
  7. Our respect for others – this helps us remember that our need to be right shouldn’t cause us to treat others in a disrespectful way.
  8. Awareness that ”reality” and “truth” are perceived differently – since people define these concepts in many different ways, our curiosity helps us explore how other people define them.
  9. Our good communication skills - they help us express ourselves calmly and respectfully.
  10. Our respect for differences - it helps us remember that other people have opinions, that their opinions will not  always match ours, and that we do not need to perceive these differences as a threat.

Thank you to the many people who commented. Your comments helped shape the discussion in ways that help us all learn. Feel free to suggest additions to this list!

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About The Author: Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context, a leadership development firm providing leadership consulting and learning publications that address complex ethical issues.

Current Leading in Context® Publications:

“Ethical Implications of How Leaders Perceive ‘Different’”  Training Module
“Ethical Interpersonal Behavior”  Graphic
“The Evolving Leadership Context: Respectful Workplaces”  Video
Testimonials - Learn about the Leading in Context difference from satisfied customers, readers and fans!

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Don’t Separate “Ethics” From “Leadership”

July 25, 2012 6 Comments

By Linda Fisher Thornton

Preparing Leaders For Ethical Leadership

Preparing leaders for ethical leadership is a long-term process.  It requires careful thought about the messages we are sending. For example, what message are we sending when we separate ethics training from other leadership training?

The Risks of “Separate” Ethics Training

I believe that we take an unnecessary risk when we separate ethics training from the rest of a leader’s development. When we separate ethics training and leadership training, we may be unintentionally sending the message that ethics is separate from leadership. What could be the harm of separating ethics from leadership?

The Impact on the Leader’s Mindset

If we separate “ethics” from “leadership” as leaders are learning, they could develop the mindset that ethics is compartmentalized and that ethical decisions are different from other decisions.

Leaders who receive separate ethics training that is not an integral component in the rest of their leadership development may think of it as they would think about a vaccination, to be tolerated once in a while, but not something that should govern their thinking, choices and behavior every day.

Leaving Leaders to Fill in the Blanks

When ethics and leadership are not integrated during the learning process, leaders may have difficulty integrating ethics and leadership themselves in day-to-day practice.

Strong Leadership Without Ethics

One of the most worrisome possibilities of teaching ethics separately from leadership is this:

If we continue to teach leadership without its governing ethics and values built in, we could unintentionally be teaching people to use strong leadership that is outside of the boundaries of ethical behavior.

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About The Author: Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context, a leadership development firm providing leadership consulting and learning publications that address complex ethical issues.

Current Leading in Context® Publications:

“Ethical Implications of How Leaders Perceive ‘Different’”  Training Module
“Ethical Interpersonal Behavior”  Graphic
“The Evolving Leadership Context: Respectful Workplaces”  Video
 
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© 2012, Leading in Context LLC. All rights reserved.

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The Leadership Development Advantage

July 18, 2012 1 Comment

by Linda Fisher Thornton

Developing Leaders Pays Off

Ongoing development for leaders helps companies. According to several recent reports, businesses that invest in leadership development enjoy clear advantages. These advantages include improved bench strength, improved talent retention and greater market value over time.

Here is a list of some of the financial and non-financial advantages of investing in leadership development, and the white papers that document them. As you read, consider how improving leadership improves the entire organization in ways that benefit companies, leaders, customers, employees, and communities.

Advantages of Investing in Leadership Development

  • Improved business growth
  • Improved bench strength
  • Improved employee retention
  • Improved bottom-line performance
  • Improved ability to attract talent
  • Solving problems earlier and at lower levels
  • Increased organizational agility
  • Improved business sustainability
  • Greater market value over time

Reports Documenting the Benefits of Leadership Development

Bersin & Associates found that businesses that invest in leadership development enjoy improved business growth, bench strength and employee retention. (New Bersin & Associates Research Shows that Organizations with High-Impact Leadership Development Strategies Build a Different Breed of Leader and Generate Seven Times Greater Business Impact, online at Bersin.com).

JP Dolan wrote in 40 Best Companies for Leadership Development: How Top Companies Excel in Leadership Development that companies that excel in leadership development generate dramatically greater market value over time (online at ChiefExecutive.net).

The Center for Creative Leadership report Driving Performance: Why Leadership Development Matters in Difficult Times (online at ccl.org) says that leadership development during difficult economic times helps companies emerge stronger than the competition, improves bottom-line financial performance, improves ability to attract and retain talent and increases organizational agility.

The Career Management Consultants in “Enhancing Leadership Capability” (nwacademy.nhs.uk) reported that The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) “found that high performing organisations are five times as effective at leadership development than low performing organisations and 86 per cent of respondents cited leadership development as a critical business issue” (The Best Get Better: Critical Human Capital Issues of 2012, i4cp, April 2012). The report also noted that “leadership capability has a direct impact on bottom line results and business sustainability.”

The Growthwave White Paper “Unleash Leadership Talent – Increase Business Performance (online at growthwave.com) reports that “Companies that focus on developing leadership abilities deep into the organization are able to identify and solve problems earlier and at lower levels. This allows higher-level leaders to not get distracted by the details at the expense of strategic performance. Unleashing leadership potential deep in the organization creates capacity to significantly increase business performance.”

Questions for Reflection

1. How well does our leadership development prepare leaders for successful leadership in our organization?

2. What problems are we experiencing that improving leadership competence would help resolve?

3. What are we going to do about it?

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About the Author Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context, a consulting firm that also publishes leadership development materials. Her mission is to clarify what it means to lead ethically in a complex world. Visit LeadinginContext.com/About for more information about Linda, her background and her mission. Linda is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies.

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2011 Most Ethical Companies

November 30, 2011 Leave a comment

Which Companies are the World’s Most Ethical?

Which companies stand out as the world’s most ethical? The answer to that question depends on who you ask! Three reports posted at Ethisphere.com, MillwardBrown.com and Forbes.com reveal their perspectives and rankings.

Rankings By Industry, Country and Ethical Leadership

Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies 2011 at Ethisphere.com organizes the most ethical companies by industry and country.

The Forbes Top Brands Report at Forbes.com lets us choose how to see the rankings by clicking the term at the top of the table. You may choose to rank based on Trust, Ethical Leadership, Innovation, Revenue, Advertising Spending or Industry.  It is very interesting to see the names change when you compare the revenue rankings to the ethical leadership rankings.

Ethics Impacts Brand Value

The report “Brandz™ Top 100: Most Valuable Global Brands 2011″  at MillwardBrown.com includes interesting information about consumer trends and how ethical behavior impacts a company’s brand value.

Customers Increasingly Evaluate Based on Ethics

Customers shop globally now, and when they buy, they compare products more and more often based upon ethics. In addition to shopping cautiously during the recession when money is tight, there is also a trend toward thinking about how each purchase impacts the local community, the global community and the planet.

“The new ethos frowned on flaunting and encouraged awareness of how one’s purchases, whether diamonds from African mines or apparel stitched in Asian factories, impacted the environment and people all along the supply chain.”  “Brandz™ Top 100: Most Valuable Global Brands 2011″  MillwardBrown.com

Ethical Businesses Benefit From the New Ways Consumers Shop

I like the term ”considered consumption” that Millward Brown uses to describe the change in consumer behavior.

Frugality eased last year, but consumers didn’t spend frivolously, suggesting that brands will continue to feel the impact of the recession-accelerated shift to considered – rather than conspicuous – consumption.  “Brandz™ Top 100: Most Valuable Global Brands 2011″  MillwardBrown.com

The Millward Brown report reminded me about these aspects of consumer behavior, which are also reasons why ethics matters in brand value:

  • Customers are thinking more before buying
  • They are considering more variables
  • They are making responsible consumption a priority
  • They value trust
  • They expect ethical behavior
  • They place their “vote” by purchasing from ethical companies
  • Word gets around when companies are responsible and offer a great value
Questions for Discussion
Clearly, customers are thinking more ethically and more globally when considering their buying options. We need to be prepared as business leaders, and we should know the answers to these questions:
1. How well is our business positioned to respond to the new ways customers shop?
2. How ethical is our brand?
3. What are we doing that we know could be handled more responsibly?
4. How can we improve our ethics in ways that will appeal to our customers, employees and partners?
5. How will we make leading responsibly in these areas of our business a top priority company-wide?
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About the Author Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context, a leadership development firm publishing learning tools that clarify what it means to lead ethically in a complex world. Her most recent publication is a Leading in Context™ Video called “The Evolving Leadership Context: Respectful Workplaces” which can be downloaded at LeadinginContext.com/Store.

How Can Leading in Context® Publications Help Our Business?

You are invited to access the full benefits that Leading in Context provides to customers and subscribers:

Ways That Leading in Context® Publications Meet Our Needs #5:  ”We need to talk about how to build an ethical culture.”

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Thinking Beyond Disciplines: Why We Need it

November 23, 2011 4 Comments

What is Transdisciplinarity?

The Institute for the Future and the University of Phoenix Research Institute list transdisciplinarity as #7 in a list of skills critical for Workforce 2020. They define it as “understanding concepts across multiple disciplines.”

Why is it Important?

Why is it increasingly important to understand concepts across multiple disciplines?

  • The problems we are trying to solve are increasingly complex.
  • The view from within any one discipline can be too narrow to provide a clear solution to a complex problem
  • Looking beyond the boundaries of knowledge that define a discipline can help us solve problems and understand complex information in a new way, using a broader view.

Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach.

Transdisciplinarity at Wikipedia.org

How Does Thinking More Broadly Help Us Lead Responsibly?

Broadening our thinking is particularly helpful in understanding concepts like “ethical leadership” which involves leading within multiple interrelated systems and meeting the needs of multiple constituents responsibly.

Sometimes looking at a problem from a single perspective may cause us to overlook important systems that are not completely within the scope of that one perspective.

Systems don’t stop where the boundaries of a discipline stop. That means that we need to broaden our view to avoid missing important pieces of the problem we’re trying to solve or the responsibility we’re trying to fulfill.

Looking at the research and information across disciplines helps us understand complex, connected systems and problems in a broader context. That broader level of thinking is the level that we’ll need to use to solve today’s complex, connected problems.

Transdisciplinarity and Ethics

Transdisciplinary ethics seeks to describe ethics in ways that transcend any particular discipline or profession.

 ”Transdisciplinary Studies are an area of research and education that addresses contemporary issues that cannot be solved by one or even a few points-of-view. It brings together academic experts, field practitioners, community members, research scientists, political leaders, and business owners among others to solve some of the pressing problems facing the world, from the local to the global.”

“The values embedded in the transdisciplinary vision are basic: sharing, respect, and resolve.” “It is a distinctly postmodern point-of-view, calling on women and men, on “transdisciplinary-minded persons of all countries” to join in bringing this vision into reality, into “everyday life.” It is a bold vision; some might even say an impossible one, filled with a zeal for justice, equality, inclusion, and true democratic decision-making.”

Transdisciplinary Studies, Wikipedia.com

“As the prefix trans indicates, transdisciplinarity concerns that which is at once between the disciplines, across different disciplines, and beyond all discipline.” – Basarab Nicolecsu, 2002 quoted by the Woodbury Institute of Transdiciplinary Studies

When solving difficult problems, consider looking across disciplines for clues. Stepping back far enough to look across disciplines may lead you to an elegant solution.

Learn More

These articles discuss the broad values and value of interdisciplinary research, thinking and ethics.

Overview of Transdisciplinarity as Methodology McGregor Consulting Group

Unity of Knowledge From Transdisciplinary Research on Sustainability by G. Hirsch Hadorn

From Inter-Disciplinary Ethics to Trans-Disciplinary Ethics  NCBI, Pubmed.gov

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Linda Fisher Thornton is CEO/Owner of Leading in Context. She can be reached at Linda@LeadinginContext.com.

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Ways That Leading in Context® Publications Meet Your Needs #4:

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Ethical Leadership Context

July 6, 2011 6 Comments

The Context for Ethical Leadership is Broader Than You May Think

The context for understanding ethical leadership is evolving as we connect information from a wide variety of disciplines that have not traditionally worked together. Here are some quotes from the Leading in Context Blog that illustrate the edges of  its context:

Curiosity and Imagination

On the surface, it doesn’t seem that curiosity and imagination are related to ethics. But think about what would happen in an environment where people were not able to use them. Could employees still be relied on to consistently behave ethically in an environment where they were not engaged in their work, and where they did not feel respected or fairly treated?

Linda Fisher Thornton, in Leading in Context Blog Post “Curiosity and Imagination Necessary Ingredients in Ethical Culture” published May 18, 2011.

Beyond Profit

The trouble with using a profit-based definition of “ethics” is that by using profitability as a way to make decisions an entire spectrum of other issues is conveniently ignored. In order to avoid this trap and to move away from profit-based thinking, it’s important to broaden the variables we consider when making business decisions to include:

  • The impact of my products and services on consumers and society
  • The impact of my business operations on the planet
  • The long-term unintended consequences of my choices
  • The changing consumer mindset toward ethical business and avoiding harm
  • The erosion of customer confidence in my products, services and ethics
Linda Fisher Thornton, in Leading in Context Blog Post “Profit-Based Ethics: The Mindset Behind It” published May 11, 2011.
Harm and Inclusion

As we better understand how we are connected as a global society, and our thinking about ethical leadership evolves, our standards of  expected behavior begin to change.

We don’t accept treating people disrespectfully or abusively.

We tolerate less harm.

We think of harm more broadly.

We expect leaders to be inclusive.

We think of inclusion more inclusively.

…It raises the stakes for all of us.

Linda Fisher Thornton, in Leading in Context Blog Post ”Curiosity and Imagination Necessary Ingredients in Ethical Culture” published May 18, 2011.

Respect and Trust
Have you noticed a trend toward more respectful behavior? Customers and employees aren’t accepting anything less. People are helping each other more, and sharing what they know more. They are expecting a higher standard of trust, respect and ethics.
Linda Fisher Thornton, in Leading in Context Blog Post “Leadership and…Respect: The New Minimum Standard for Workplace Behavior” published February 2, 2011.

Download a Sample from the latest Leading in Context LLC eBook “Ethical Implications of How Leaders Perceive Different”  at the Leading in Context Store for Digital Goods (via Payloadz.com).

Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, providing Tools for Ethical Leadership. She is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

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Ethics at the Intersection

June 29, 2011 Leave a comment

How Do We Determine Our Ethics as Leaders?

Why is it such a challenge to determine how we interpret “ethical leadership?” Because there are many different ways of determining what we consider to be ethical.  Even while trying to be responsible we can still miss the mark by a mile.

Consider some of the possible ways that a leader might interpret ethics.

Ethics in a Vacuum

  • Looks at “ethics” in a silo, investigating deeply rather than broadly
  • Excludes areas that others consider to be part of ethical leadership
  • Ignores how emerging knowledge in other areas of practice should impact ethical leadership
Ethics of Convenience

  • Determines what is ethical based on individual values and selectively chosen research
  • Defines “ethics” in the context that provides the most benefits for the interpreter
  • Often fiercely defends own decisions as “ethical” using judgemental words and blame

Ethics in a Historical Context

  • Defines ethics based on the knowledge of  ethics scholars and historical thinkers
  • Uses historical ideas to solve today’s complex challenges
  • Ignores the current evolving leadership context and new research
  • Limits the boundaries of ethics to those that have been extensively written about and studied

Ethics at the Intersection

  • Determines what is ethical based on a holistic view of ethics
  • Changes definition of “ethical” based on new research. .. not finite… ever evolving
  • Considers research beyond the boundaries of “formal ethics” to include the impact of  choices on employee engagement, innovation and more
  • Takes an integrative perspective, looking at what we can learn from the places where many disciplines intersect (for example:  philosophy, psychology, sociology, ecology and leadership)
While we cannot ignore what we have learned from the past, we also cannot ignore what we are learning in the present. It is equally important to take a broad and integrative approach, not limiting the scope of our view to incorporate only that which is personally familiar or personally beneficial.  A combination of approaches is probably the most responsible, studying the historical understanding of ethics but not being restricted by its boundaries, and studying the emerging knowledge without losing sight of its historical context.
Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, a consulting firm helping business leaders lead responsibly in a complex world.  She is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.
Visit the Leading in Context® Digital Store for eBooks, training modules, discussion guides and graphics supporting ethical business leadership. The newest publication is a “stoplight” graphic showing “Ethical Interpersonal Behavior. “

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11 Learning & Development Reports 2011

June 15, 2011 1 Comment

In 2011 we know more about how people learn, and as leaders we have a responsibility to adapt our corporate learning practices as times change. Here is an index for leaders of current research, articles and predictions about learning:

Special Report: Learning Delivery 2011 Chief Learning Officer, clomedia.com

10 Predictions for 2011: Trends That Will Reshape the Training Industry Training Industry Inc, trainingindustry.com

Top Tools for Learning: Emerging Trends  Jane Hart, in Learning Technologies Magazine

Learning Technology Trends to Watch in 2011 theelearningcoach.com

Business Training Trends in 2011 Integration Training, integrationtraining.co.uk

Learning and the State of Business 2011 Bob Lee, in Chief Learning Officer

Directory of Learning Tools 2011 Center for Learning and Performance Technologies, c4lpt.co.uk

Trends in Learning and Development 2010 2012 Summary Overlap R & D Team, on slideshare.net

The State of Learning Delivery on Mobile Devices in 2011  Marci Paino in Chief Learning Officer, clomedia.com

Continued Dedication to Workplace Learning Laleh Patel, at astd.org

Evaluating Training and Learning Circa 2011 Tom Gram, at performancexdesign.wordpress.com

 
Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, a consulting firm helping business leaders lead responsibly in a complex world.  She is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.
Visit the Leading in Context® Digital Store for eBooks, training modules, discussion guides and graphics supporting ethical business leadership.  The newest publication is a “stoplight” graphic showing “Ethical Interpersonal Behavior. “

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100th Blog Post: The Ethical Leadership Training Challenge

June 8, 2011 2 Comments

I am delighted to report that this is the 100th Leading in Context blog post! Special thanks to all of you who are subscribers and regular readers!

Today’s graphic is a Wordle of my article “Ethical Leadership Training: Why is it So Hard to Get it Right?”  published in the September 2009 issue of Training and Development by the American Society of Training and Development and reprinted in The Best of Leadership 2009: Leadership Development issue.

The scope of leadership ethics is broadening. Leadership ethics used to be about honesty, integrity, fairness, following rules and laws, and being true to your values. Now, in the global marketplace, with fierce competition for business and resources, the scope of problems that can occur in leadership ethics has expanded exponentially.

The global scope means that the issues we encounter may involve the widely differing values, rules, and laws of multiple companies and cultures. The way that we define “leadership ethics” has to be different in this new marketplace and has to incorporate more than individual values.

Linda Fisher Thornton in “Leadership Ethics Training: Why is it So Hard To Get It Right?, Training and Development Journal, American Society for Training and Development,  September 2009.

To read the complete article:  LeadinginContext.com/Articles 

Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, a consulting firm helping business leaders lead responsibly in a complex world.  She is also Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.
Visit the Leading in Context® Digital Store for eBooks, training modules, discussion guides and graphics supporting ethical business leadership. The newest publication is a “stoplight” graphic showing “Ethical Interpersonal Behavior. “

Filed under Ethical Organization, Trends Tagged with , , , ,

5 Unethical Phrases: Low Trust

January 5, 2011 Leave a comment

Leading in Context LLC

Treating People With Respect Builds Trust

How we treat people is an important part of ethical leadership. We know that when leaders treat people with respect, trust is built within the organization. Treating people with respect includes listening to their ideas and working together to accomplish the mission of the organization.

5 Unethical Phrases That Signal a Low-Trust Culture

These 5 phrases signal that the speaker may not be treating other people in the company respectfully and may not be considering the ideas and concerns of others when making decisions. They indicate a culture where communication is not handled in a way that builds trust:

1. “I don’t care what the Marketing Department says. We’re going to do this anyway.”

2. “I think Erik is cruising into retirement. He seems lazy these days.”

3.  “You missed the targets by a mile. You’ll all be fired if you can’t get the job done.”

4. “What is the CEO going to cook up this time? I dread his business trips. He brings back ideas, and we all have to jump on the “newest” thing he’s excited about.”

5. ”Stop socializing and get back to work!”

How does each example indicate a low-trust culture?

Number 1 ignores the importance of seeking out and carefully listening to input from other areas when working on projects that cross departmental lines. Competition between departments is distracting and leads to a low-trust culture. Departments should work as parts of the same team to ensure the success of the organization.

Number 2 erodes trust by speaking negatively about someone when that person is not present. Labeling someone as “lazy” is disrespectful and judgemental and ignores many possible issues and problems that may be impacting an employee’s performance. In a high-trust company, leaders are in close touch with employees about their performance and it’s not necessary to guess about what’s causing an employee to be less productive.

Number 3 ignores the fact that there are many systemic reasons why a team may not meet performance targets. In fact, poor leadership is one of the main ones! In a high-trust culture, leaders are spending time supporting the performance needed to meet goals, and not threatening employees with consequences. Threatening implies that the leader has no part in the failure of the team and is completely separate from the team. In fact, the leader is a key part of the team and shares in the success or failure of the group.

Number 4 assumes that the latest things that the CEO wants to carry out are not going to be improvements. It assumes that the CEO is the one who is responsible for keeping the company current and seeking new ideas. In a high-trust culture, leaders at all levels are looking for new ideas and sharing them. And when they are suggested, each one is considered carefully. There are cases where a leader is suggesting improvements faster than the organization can implement them, which leads to frustration and lower productivity. In this case, it’s best to find a tactful way to let the leader know rather than complaining to others who can’t change the behavior. Talking negatively about someone is never going to change the performance, and it erodes trust. Rule of thumb: If it’s not something you would talk directly to the person about, don’t talk to anyone else about it either.

Number 5 ignores the very real context of today’s connected workplace. Connecting with others is how people get work done. It makes work more satisfying and more productive. It builds trust and loyalty. If people are meeting goals and performance standards, they are probably doing it while staying connected to their colleagues.  In a high-trust environment with good leadership, leaders are also staying connected by walking around and interacting with employees, and by using blogs, podcasts and other means of regular communication beyond the standard corporate internal memos.

Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, providing Tools for Ethical Leadership in a Complex Interconnected Workplace.  She teaches “Strategic Thinking for Leaders” and “Leadership, Conflict Management and Group Dynamics” as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

Download a Sample from the latest Leading in Context LLC eBook “How Leaders Perceive Different.”   To be notified when new resources are posted, subscribe to the Leading in Context™ Blog via e-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook.

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Definition of “Top Brands” Evolving: Ethical Business Rankings Inform Purchasing Consumers

December 1, 2010 Leave a comment

Author’s Note: In an earlier post I wrote about the growing movement called “ethical consumerism.” Ethical Consumerism: The New “Good” Shopping Experience. Today’s post explores how it impacts our perception of “top brands.”

Ethical Leadership MattersDefinition of “Top Brands” Evolving

Will there be a convergence between the current “top 100 brands” and the “most ethical brands?”  Brands that are the most ethical will continue to draw consumers wanting to support ethical business. Those consumers now have many sources of information to use in making purchasing decisions. To stay in the “Top Brands” businesses are having to adapt to the new expectations.

Business Ethics Sites for Shoppers

Businesses have been used to being ranked on size and profitability. With the growing trend toward ethical consumerism, business leaders need to prepare to be ranked on ethics.  Customers are more concerned about sustainability, ethics and values than they are about company size and quality of advertising.  They are making choices in line with the new consumer mentality about sustainable consumption and sustainable living.

Businesses that have not yet adapted to the trend may be surprised to find that unethical ratings on the shopping sites are changing their status in the eyes of careful consumers.

Rankabrand.com

Ethical Consumer Guide 2010

Consumer Shopping Filters Have Changed (Previous Post Listing More Sites)

Questions to Consider:

1. How have we defined the success of our brand in the past?

2. How does our definition of brand success need to change to adapt to new consumer expectations?

3. What simple changes could we make now to make our company and our brand more ethical?

Linda Fisher Thornton is Owner of Leading in Context LLC, providing Tools for Ethical Leadership in a Complex Interconnected Workplace.  She teaches “Strategic Thinking for Leaders” and “Leadership, Conflict Management and Group Dynamics” as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Leadership for the University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies.

To be notified when new ethical leadership resources are published, subscribe to the Leading in Context™ Blog or follow @LeadinginContxt™ on twitter!

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